Since its debut in 2020, Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade has had a steady stream of releases. Almost to the tune of 1 a year, we’ve gotten new tables and new themes. What started with just a simple pinball themed game, has branched off into some popular licenses such as Christmas-themed movies and Star Trek.
Apparently, veteran designer Geoff Engelstein isn’t done yet as today we are checking out the newest offering in the Super-SKill Pinball lineup, DC Super-Skill Pinball: Harley Quinn Ball. Get ready to take bad girl Harley Quinn on various outings as she has fun and causes trouble in Gotham City.
Gameplay Overview:
We’ve covered how to play a few times in our review of the original Super-Skill Pinball (and the offshoots), so I’ll let you read those reviews for a more in-depth intro in to the gameplay. But the short of it is that each player has their own pinball board and dry-erase marker.
Each turn two six-sided dice are rolled and you can use one of those results to mark off a matching number space on your board, scoring your points (and sometimes special abilities). Then the ball usually drops down to a lower level. If it goes off the bottom of the board, the ball is out of play, and your round ends. Once you’ve used up all of your balls, your game ends. When all players are done, the player with the highest score is the pinball champ.
Game Experience:
For the most part, the core gameplay of Super-Skill Pinball is the same as the previous iterations. You are rolling dice, crossing off things on your board, and scoring points. What sets each version of the game apart is the theme, and how it’s used on each of the tables.
If you are not interested in what the new tables are and are just curious how good DC Super-Skill Pinball: Harley Quinn Ball is, I’ve got good news for you. I’ve played almost every iteration of the game and this one is, by far, my favorite of the bunch. That’s not a knock against the other versions, they’ve all been great. But the designer really had some fun with the tables on this one and the variety and use of theme are top-notch with Harley Quinn Ball.
The first table is Coney Island. Online, the designer has said that he has family history with Coney Island, so while I’ve never been there myself, I can appreciate his dedication to authenticity with this one. This is the most straightforward of all the tables and a good starter. The standout here are the back glass mini-games of the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump.
The Wonder Wheel has no die icons, instead, once you head up into there, you move to the car based on the number you used to get there, and score that many points. You can then continue moving around the wheel (assuming you can land in an open spot), scoring points until you have to or decide to drop back down to the Hot Dog zone.
The Parachute Jump has to be hit in order, from 1-6. Each time you hit a number, you fall back down to the Hot Dog section. If you can hit number 6, you can instead parachute to any space on the main board (and score 25 points).
Next is The Joker Tower, and also my favorite board of the group. This is a really unique table in that it’s comprised of 4 sections, and once you go up one section, you can’t go back down. Each section has a mission you must accomplish to move on to the next action. You’ll be fighting guards, hacking keypads, and stealing diamonds… all in an attempt to get to the top section to confront Joker. This final section has 2 bumpers and Joker targets. Knocking all of the Joker targets down scores you 100 points and ends the game.
What I love about this table is that you have an end goal and only 1 ball to do it. To be honest, I’ve played it a few times and just ignored my score (when playing solo) trying to see if I can beat Joker (or how quickly). I’d love to see more tables like this, where score doesn’t necessarily matter, but you have missions you want to accomplish. When I’m playing solo, sometimes I don’t really care about my score, so this is the perfect table for that.
The Suicide Squad table, as you might expect, has you recruiting different members of the squad to score you some points. You start the game with one of 5 squad members (Boomerang, Quinn, Headshot, Killer Croc, or Enchantress) Each squad member has a special power and when you use it, you mark off a box similar to nudging. Each time you use the squad members power, it gets more dangerous for them until eventually, they die and are out of the game. If you can hit the Waller target enough time, she’ll recruit another squad member to use.
The main way to score points on this table is by fighting Starro. He has 5 arms that you must clear out first before taking on his big eye. Each arm target scores you a point and the big eye gets you 15.
The final table is a girls night out with Quinn, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, and Black Canary. This table’s main attraction is the massive amount of multiballs you’ll have there are 3 Team Up targets in the center of the table, and every time you complete them all, you get a multiball with whomever you last hit to complete the set. And these multi balls can score you 3x instead of the usual 2x. Each teammate has an icon, and when you hit a target with the matching icon, you get the 3x multiplayer instead.
Final Thoughts:
I’ve enjoyed each iteration of Super-Skill Pinball but this one is definitely my favorite. The theme and variety of the tables are top-notch here. Joker’s Tower is easily my favorite because I love the linear mission nature, but the other tables each have their own interesting aspects.
If you’ve never played a Super-Skill Pinball game before, DC Super-Skill Pinball: Harley Quinn Ball is the one to get (unless you really don’t like the theme). If you have a few of them already, this one is still worth picking up for the variety it brings to the table.
Final Score: 4.5 Stars – A great iteration of the Super Skill Pinball system that uses its theme really well.
Hits:
• Great variety in tables
• Joker Tower is a fun mission-based table
• Smooth gameplay continues on from previous iterations
Misses:
• Now I want more mission-based tables.
Source: Board Game Quest
